Welcome to another edition of the LXF Website Newsletter! If you'vebeen keeping an eye on the site over the last few weeks, you'll nodoubt have seen our new Interview Archive section. Currently, thisfeatures the complete 2005 collection of one-to-one discussionsbetween LXF and major players in the Linux world. If you've everwanted to fathom out the mind of a kernel hacker, or what makes aLinux-focused businessman take on Microsoft, you can find the fullarchive at http://www.linuxformat.co.uk/interviews/

Meanwhile, we're looking to revamp these Newsletters with newfeatures and a wider range of content, in response to the excellentcommunity that's growing around the website. So we'd love to know:what would you like to see in the Newsletters? More or less news,mag content, highlights from the forums, and special content? Maybeyou'd prefer more community involvement, with bits written bywebsite regulars. Or perhaps you'd like a focus on hands-on guidesfor using Linux.

Either way, please do drop me a line -- I'll read all suggestionsand get back to as many of you as possible!

Linux Format issue 78 arrives on the newsstands today, and our mainfeature this month is a comprehensive guide to all things digitalphotography. If you've come from a Mac or Windows background, youmay be surprised at the range of quality image editing softwareavailable for Linux. We show you how to import pictures from yourcamera onto your desktop, add effects and correct common problems.And when your snaps have been fine-tuned to perfection, we show youhow to share your work on DVDs or the Web.

Also in the mag: an in-depth look at the unique desktop operatingsystem Syllable, which amazes with its speed and simplicity andcould have a big future in the Free Software world. Meanwhile,Richard Smedley steps away from all the hype surrounding Web 2.0 andasks: will these new Internet technologies change our lives, and ifso, in what way? On the reviews front, Paul Hudson takes to theskies with Airline Tycoon Deluxe, and two new distro releases,Yellow Dog 4.1 and Gentoo 2006.0, are put under the spotlight.

In the tutorials section, you'll find guides to using Evolution, TheGIMP and Inkscape, along with the first installment in our hardcorecommand-line mastery series. If you're looking to add a bit of oomphto your PC, try OpenSUSE SLICK on the cover DVD - it's all the bestbits of SUSE spiced up with performance boosting features and kernelpatches. Also on the DVD is VMware Player and the Browser Appliance(for turning Windows PCs into secure Linux internet stations), afull digital camera toolkit, the best new games and much more.

In the LXF Interview this month, we chat to two prominent Monodevelopers (and book authors) about the future of the open source.NET implementation. Niel Bornstein and Edd Dumbill know all aboutthe inner workings of Mono - here's a few of the questions we askedthem, and the answers will be on our site next week:

# How did you guys get into Mono?

# What's the biggest improvement in switching to Mono from other programming languages?

# What's the best advice you can give to people currently using Qt or GTK who are considering using Mono?

Grab a copy of LXF 78 for the full interview. Also this month, ourregular HotPicks section looks at the latest open source appreleases, including nifty Firefox chat extension Peekko:

The vast array of extensions available for Firefox is undoubtedly the browser's greatest strength, and as time progresses we're seeing more and more innovative ideas. Peekko Chat is a small extension that lets users join a chat room for any website - whatever you're reading, you may be able to have a natter with other web surfers also running it. To install, visithttp://peekko.com and click on the peekko-0.2.5.xpi link (you'll need Firefox 1.5).

After restarting Firefox, you'll find an additional toolbar near the top which updates as you browse to different webpages. If you go to the LXF website, for example, it'll say something like '3 chatting 7 browsing' - the former is the number who're actively using the extension, and the latter is other Peekko users who're just reading the site. Hit the Join button and a new pane appears at the bottom of the browser window: we don't find the orange and black colour scheme too appealing, but it uses up very little space.

Now, you may have noticed something familiar in the Peekko screenshot here. Yes, Peekko is essentially a miniature IRC client that connects to Peekko's on servers, and joins a channel named after the site's URL. So, if you're reading Slashdot, you'll join the #slashdot.org channel. Naturally, it's hard to moderate free-access IRC channels, especially when there's theoretically one for every domain in the world, so Peekko's authors will have to make sure it doesn't turn into a mess of spam and flamewars. It could also do with some graphical touches, instead of looking like a vanilla text-based IRC client.

As it's a fairly new extension, it's rare to to find more than a handful of people chatting on a website, although some of the most popular tech sites tend to have the odd spot of discussion. Hopefully this will improve as the extension's popularity increases. In the meantime, though, it's a clever little system that makes great use of existing technology (IRC) and could add a whole new dimension to websites. Web 3.0, here we come!

As usual, there're five and a half more pages of HotPicks in LXF 77,including a look at the bizarre block-dropping puzzler Angry DrunkenDwarves.

---------------------------------------------------------- 3. In the news... ----------------------------------------------------------

The first release in the 2006 series of Gentoo Linux is nowavailable. One of the most significant new features in thissource-based highly tunable distro is the 'Gentoo Linux Installer',supplied on the x86 LiveCD. Software versions: KDE 3.4.3, GNOME2.12.2, XFCE 4.2.2, GCC 3.4.4 and kernel 2.6.15 kernel. Seehttp://www.gentoo.org for all the details.

From the ongoing SCO vs IBM legal wranglings: it looks like thingsare coming to a head, with two massive subpoenas from IBM. First inthe firing line is Microsoft, which is being asked for allinformation on agreements between MS and SCO -- including DarlMcBride's communication in May of 2003 "with Steven Ballmerregarding SCO's rights to the UNIX operating system". IBM is alsowants to find out more about any Sun and SCO dealings. As PamelaJones notes on groklaw.net, we may finally get some solid answers toour questions...

In possibly the strangest use of Linux anywhere ever, MooBella hasdeveloped a Linux-powered ice cream vending machine running Red Hat9. Via a flat-panel interface, consumers can mix their choices offlavour for a total of 96 possible varieties. Engineers can updatethe machine simply by plugging in USB flash keys. See this articleon LinuxDevices for more info on this cool curiosity:http://linuxdevices.com/articles/AT9296154631.html

---------------------------------------------------------- 4. This month on the forum ----------------------------------------------------------

What are the trivial benefits to Linux? The serious factors, thatit's solid and generally very secure, are hugely important, butajCham pondered the minor things that keep Linux users smiling.Towy71 enjoyed using an OS developed by 'nice crazy people', whilejjmac liked having small text-handling utilities such as awk easilyat hand. 1slipperyfish (troll) (troll) had the most concise reason for using Linuxthough: 'I like it cos it's nice ' [1]

User 'shifty_ben' was meandering around the web when he discovered acocktail recipe with Linux in its name. Naturally, this kicked off along thread about everyone's favourite drinks, and even strayed intoa highly technical discussion on the colouring of Islay Single Maltand its 'smokey peaty tang'. We look forward to seeing LXF Forumregulars guest hosting food and drink! [2]

If you've been forwarded this Newsletter from someone else, and wantto sign up for future issues, just follow the steps below. Eachmonth you'll receive a sparkling new LXF Newsletter straight in yourInbox, and the 30-second sign-up process is even easier than atwo-piece jigsaw: